A Buyer's Guide to Share of Freehold

Share of Freehold sounds like a technicality until it is not. Here is what it actually means for how you buy, sell and live in a flat.

What it actually is

With Share of Freehold, the flat owners jointly own the building’s freehold, usually through a limited company, alongside their individual long lease on the flat itself. You still hold a lease, typically 999 years, but you and your fellow owners control the freeholder, which means you decide on major works, service charge budgets and lease extensions without asking a third-party landlord.

What it protects

No ground rent to an external freeholder, no freeholder-appointed managing agent choosing which roofer gets the contract, and no risk of the freehold being sold to an investor mid-ownership. Lease extensions, which can otherwise run to five figures in legal and premium costs, are usually straightforward and cheap between co-owners.

What it does not protect

Share of Freehold does not remove the need for a good management company; someone still has to run the building day to day, and four or six owners disagreeing about a roof repair can be slower than a professional freeholder deciding alone. It is also worth checking the freehold company’s own accounts before you buy: a Share of Freehold flat with an underfunded reserve is a liability, not a benefit.

We treat it as a genuine plus on a listing, not a marketing line. Ask to see the last three years of service charge accounts before you rely on it.